The City of Jackson to Receive Additional Assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice to Improve Investigations of Violent Crimes Committed with Firearms

Jackson, Miss. – The City of Jackson, Mississippi will receive additional federal assistance to investigate violent crimes committed with firearms. 

Specifically, this month the DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New Orleans Field will be deploying a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) mobile unit to Jackson that will assist law enforcement agencies in Jackson and throughout the Southern District of Mississippi with investigating crimes committed with firearms.  Members of the media were invited to observe a demonstration of the mobile unit in Jackson today.

Additionally, DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $675,000 grant to Jackson in 2022 as part of ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative.  This grant, which will be spent over several years, is being used to improve Jackson’s access to NIBIN to investigate the use of firearms in multiple shootings and provide other tools to improve investigations of violent crimes committed with firearms. 

NIBIN is a database of bullet casings recovered from crime scenes across the United States. Used casings have distinctive markings from the gun they were fired from, similar to a fingerprint. Investigators can check the database to see if the casings recovered from a crime scene were fired from a gun that may have been used in another crime. Through the database, one weapon could theoretically be linked to crimes across several cities and states. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. ATF maintains and operates NIBIN’s infrastructure at no charge to law enforcement partners.

More information about ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Centers can be found here:  https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-crime-gun-intelligence-centers-cgic. 

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee, Special Agent in Charge Joshua E. Jackson of the ATF, Chief Joseph Wade of the Jackson Police Department, and Chief Bo Luckey of the Capitol Police made the announcement.